Kokomo - Collaborative assembly systems
Project Description
Collaborative assembly systems, in which the skilled worker interacts with a robot, offer great potential for optimization in the assembly of multi-variant products. However, the durable and economical operation of such systems requires, among other things, new methods of production planning. For this purpose, the assembly planner needs tools to easily derive work areas of the robot as well as the cycle times resulting from the sequence. This is particularly true for workplaces where both humans and robots can be used. In particular, the division of work content for humans and robots at collaborative assembly workplaces presents a planning challenge. In addition, it is currently not possible to feed back operating data collected for the purpose of technical and economic evaluation or system optimization into the planning phase.
With the objective of being able to test the real requirements of collaborative assembly processes in a virtual environment in advance, a virtual demonstrator was developed at the Bremen Institute for Structural Mechanics and Production Systems (bime). Virtual and augmented reality systems were used to test collaborative application scenarios and coupled with a physical simulation. By linking the robot controller to a real-time simulation, processes could be virtually validated and concepts examined at an early stage with regard to their feasibility and economic viability. In this way, demand-oriented training of employees could be carried out in a virtual and hazard-free environment in order to create acceptance for collaborative robotics and to disclose and reduce fears of new technologies. This approach serves to sustainably ensure efficient and high-quality service provision by employees in the company.
Contact
Patrick Rückert, M.Sc.
Tel.: +49 421 218-64838
E-Mail: rueckertprotect me ?!bimeprotect me ?!.de